A cross-sectional study on sociodemographic profile and drug-seeking situations in alcohol-dependent patients Vivekananth Arun Kumar1,*, Mohan Murali2, Ganesan Gopalakrishnan3 1Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Sree Mookambika Institute of Medical Science, Kulashekharam, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India 2Psychiatry Registrar, Launceston General Hospital, Tasmania, Australia 3Professor & HOD, Department of Psychiatry, Sowmanasya Hospital & Institute of Psychiatry, Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India *Correspondence Dr. Arun Kumar V, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Sree Mookambika Institute of Medical Science, Kulashekharam, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. PIN-629161, arun0398@gmail.com
Online published on 16 January, 2019. Abstract Background and aims Alcohol dependence is associated with enormous health complications-both psychological and physical. It is important to understand the factors leading to its dependence, which will help to plan strategies to reduce its intake. Hence, we decided to study the sociodemographic profile and drug-seeking situations in alcohol-dependent patients. Methods It was a cross-sectional, observational, hospital-based study of 75 alcohol dependence syndrome patients. A predesigned proforma was used for collecting sociodemographic data and the Inventory of Drug-Taking Situation (IDTS) was used to assess various drug-seeking situations in alcohol-dependent patients. Results Mean age of the study sample was 42 years and duration of alcohol use was 17 years. The common drug-seeking behaviour, assessed using IDTS, was pleasant times with others (positive situations) followed by social pressure and testing personal control (temptation situations). Conclusion Most of the patients in the study were long-term alcohol users with initiation in the young adult age. Identifying the high-risk situations and forming alternate coping strategies for dealing with these particular high-risk situations will help in reducing the severity of alcohol consumption and relapse prevention. Top Keywords High-Risk, Coping, Relapse Prevention. Top |